South Asian Literature

Catalog description

This course introduces students to a selection of writings in various Indian languages (Bengali, Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, Malayalam, Rajasthani. etc.) available in translation in English. The focus of this course is on the representation of gender and sexuality, as well as its relation to other factors such as class, caste, religion or ethnicity and how the depictions are mediated particularly through emerging fictional conventions in prose writing. The course begins with pre-independence texts and then moves on to the narratives of Partition. As the cultural and historical contexts are examined within which literature has evolved in South Asia, emphasis is also placed on the voices of women and the role they play in the development of literary movements. Finally, contemporary texts are analyzed to gain a broader understanding of how tradition and modernity are embedded in South Asian literature with emphasis on gender representations. Read more.